Well, I can't believe that Maya is six months old already. I swear she changes every day! She wakes up every single day with the ability to do more than she could do the day before. She's amazing.Speaking of changes, this month has been huge! Maya's diet and activity have advanced most significantly. We started Maya on oatmeal cereal, which she will actually eat. After one week of that, we started her first REAL food: SQUASH! It was the day after Thanksgiving, so squash just seemed appropriate. It was the right time of year for it! Plus, I figured squash is pretty bland (as if there is a baby food that isn't bland... hahaha...), so it shouldn't be too much of a shock to her taste buds. Turns out, squash was a good choice. She loves it! In fact, that's basically all I can get her to eat! Everything else I try to give her is promptly spit back out in loud, wet, raspberry form! What a stinker.
The other big diet change this month has been Maya choosing to wean herself off of breastfeeding. It came as quite a surprise for me. I assumed that I would breastfeed for one year, so to be faced with weaning only half way through the year... well, I have mixed feelings about it. Maya has taken to a bottle like a fish to water. She loves it. She gets more volume much quicker with less work. She's switching over to formula without any issues with taste. I only mixed one bottle of breastmilk and formula, then it was straight formula. She made a little face at first, but once she figured out that she would be getting a full belly every time she ate, she was satisfied to get formula. Currently, my body is adjusting to the lack of stimulation. My milk production has slowed way down, but it has not stopped completely. I'm basically nursing Maya only to make myself more comfortable. The sessions are very few and far between, as my body is catching on pretty quickly. It does seem a bit foreign to me to feed Maya with a bottle, but I'm getting used to it. I'm actually enjoying feeding her without having to rearrange any clothing!
I guess weaning from breast to bottle is starting at a pretty good time. Maya got her first two teeth this month! It's so bizarre to see teeth in her mouth after all these months of her big gummy smile! They are very nice teeth, though, and she looks so cute with them! They are her two middle bottom teeth, so when she smiles great big, they just shine!
Maya continues to be very active. She has figured out how to get up on her hands and knees, how to scoot backwards (or upside down, however you look at it), and how to make forward progress while on her belly! She gets around, wherever she needs to go, she figures out how to get there. She will roll, then flip over onto her back and go headfirst by arching her back and pushing with her feet, and sometimes she'll move forward on her belly by pushing with her toes while she pulls on the carpet! She's resourceful, there's no doubt about that! Rolling and scooting upside down are faster, though, so she usually doesn't waste too much time on her belly. That just slows her down! Heaven forbid! She's a go-getter, that's for sure! When she sees something she wants, she doesn't stop until she gets it. She's very driven, determined, tenacious, strong willed... well, you get the picture! She's going to keep us on our toes!
We did some traveling and had a visitor this month. We took the Amtrak to see my Grandma Babe in Streator, IL. It was smooth sailing. Maya's a great traveler, so it was a breeze! We had a great time seeing my grandma. Mom and my brother, Alex, came to stay, too. It was a lot of fun. As always, Maya provided the vast majority of entertainment! Grandma was overjoyed to finally get her hands on Maya, and I was so happy for Maya to finally meet my grandma. It was a really fun trip! Other exciting happenings include my dad coming for a visit. He got into town a couple of days ago, and he's staying with us for a week! We love having dad here, and Maya and him are completely smitten on each other! He just gets a kick out of her personality. The more ornery she was, the more he was entertained. Any time she was being particularly ornery... like say, for example, she was blowing raspberries at me with a mouth full of food, he would laugh and shake his head saying, "You are in BIG trouble, little girl!" Meaning, Maya is going to be a little wild one, and we better watch out! I think he's absolutely right! (FYI, "little girl" refers to me. He's always called me that!)
We had one unexpected visit to the doctor's office this month. At the beginning of the month, Maya got her first cold, so we did what any rational first time parents would do... we rushed her right to the doctor's office! In retrospect, it was pretty pathetic, but at the time, it seemed quite necessary! The only useful information we learned at the doctor's office was that Maya weighed 11 pounds 4 ounces. She was 5 1/2 months old, and she'd only gained 3.5 pounds! At that point, I was worried. Textbooks say that babies should double their weight by 6 months, and she was far from that! The doctor said he wasn't concerned, though, and we would reevaluate at her 6 month well child exam. Well, now that she's been on formula for just over a week, I think she's gaining weight. She just feels thicker to me! I know it sounds crazy, but it's true and Will agrees with me! Now that we feel she's gaining weight, it's easier to give her the formula. Maybe that's what she's needed all along... who knows?!
Well, that's her 1/2 year report! I still can't believe it was 6 months ago that she was born! The time has flown by so fast. As much as I loved snuggling with her in those early days, when she was just itty-bitty, I am having so much fun watching her grow and develop her own little personality. She is just a true joy in my life, and I look forward to seeing her blossom over these next 6 months (and beyond). Every day is a new adventure with her, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
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